


For Sake of Old Times

by ObsessiveFanNumber1



Series: Healen Holidays [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, On The Way To A Smile: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: But they exist, Dark Nation is alive because I said so, Drabble, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Holiday Traditions, I haven't decided yet if Judd or Kilmister will actually show up, Pointless fluff, Rufus Shinra and his Turks, Traditions, aka Tseng is the only one who knows everything going on, but it makes me happy so I'm sharing, new year's, or if they're just referenced, pet parent Rufus Shinra, set during On the Way to a Smile, snowed in at Healen Lodge, they're prepared because they're Turks yo, wholesome fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessiveFanNumber1/pseuds/ObsessiveFanNumber1
Summary: The poem's Scots title "Auld Lang Syne" may be translated into standard English as "old long since" or, less literally, "long long ago," "days gone by," or "old times." Consequently, "For auld lang syne," as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as "for the sake of old times.".He had thought Tseng had forgotten—he himself nearly had—he couldn't have been more than eight when he'd slipped up amidst his complaints about his father's treatment of the holidays and admitted to Tseng that none of them really were anything special anyways because of how many inane parties the president hosted that he had to attend. In response, Tseng had started quietly celebrating the holidays with him the day prior to everyone else, so the boy could actually enjoy them. He'd even—very carefully—begun sharing Wutain traditions with Rufus as well: never any Wutai-specific holidays, but etiquette around certain meals and the like. That had gone on for a couple of years, before Rufus had determined that it was silly and childish and pointless. Professional that he was, Tseng hadn't spoken of it since.Apparently, not even to the other Turks.
Series: Healen Holidays [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081454
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	For Sake of Old Times

**Author's Note:**

> We had a blizzard the day before Christmas Eve, and I need a break from working on PhD applications, so I ended up writing this little drabble.

Snow coated the windows of the Shinra Cabin while the wind shook the tree branches outside. Inside, Dark Nation was curled up with her head on Rufus’s feet, her tentacle flicking back and forth occasionally as she dreamed. The president was sitting in his wheelchair, glancing up from his laptop occasionally at the snowfall outside. The blizzard had been going for several hours and was likely to continue into the early hours of the morning.

Nation lifted her head, sniffing the air and then sitting up, and Rufus took the hint to shut his laptop. By the time that the door opened, his laptop had been moved to his desk, and he was scratching the base of her neck where her tentacle started as a quiet thank you for the warning before the door opened. A burst of wind whipped through the room; Rufus held onto the sheet that covered him, and Nation set her head on his lap to assist. Tseng held the door open just long enough for Elena to slip inside, each of them carrying two grocery bags that seemed almost comically full. “Reno, Rude, come help us with these!” Elena called, kicking snow off of her boots and helping Tseng shoulder the door shut against the wind.

“I wasn’t aware that we were that low on food,” Rufus commented dryly, raising his eyebrows at the two of them. Sliding off his boots, Tseng replied with a mere half-smile and went into the kitchen to set down his bags.

“We aren’t,” Elena said, gratefully handing a bag off to Rude, whose sunglasses hid any curious look that he may have given them. On the other hand, Reno was practically bouncing when he came into the living room and saw the bags.

“You get the good shit, Laney?”

"Of course we did," Elena said, the restraint visible in her eyes to stop herself from saying _no, we got garbage_ first.

"Did I miss a conversation about this?" Rufus cut in, growing annoyed that he hadn't gotten an answer yet. "Why did you buy so much food?"

"Because it's almost New Year's, sir." Tseng had returned, hanging up his own coat and taking Elena's as well. "Since the snow isn't likely to melt in the next two days, we decided to get everything we needed now."

Rufus eyed the kitchen. "That seems like more than what's necessary for the six of us." No one questioned his inclusion of Dark Nation, who had padded into the kitchen now to sniff at the bags. She growled half-heartedly at Rude when he shooed her away from them, but left them alone, wandering back out to sniff down Elena and Tseng since they had been outside.

"Make enough for the New Year's feast, and you don't have to cook for the first week of the new year, yo," Reno chimed in, finally taking the bag from Elena before Nation could knock it out of her hands. "'Sides, if you figure Kilmister swipes a plate and Judd stops by, there's a few more."

"Did you invite either of them?" Because Rufus hadn't. To be frank, he hadn't been paying attention to the calendar at all except for when he had to mark dates on files or on donation checks to the WRO. It wasn't all that surprising if they were doing something for the holiday that Judd would stop by; the younger man was perhaps the only other resident of Healen Lodge who knew that Rufus didn't actually need the wheelchair on most days. But Rufus would be very surprised if his Turks invited Kilmister to anything. None of them—Rufus included—were particularly fond of the man; he had kidnapped Rufus, after all. Nonetheless, they weren't going to overlook the fact that no one else on the planet was anywhere near as close to a cure for geostigma as Kilmister was.

"The doctor is coming over tomorrow morning to follow up on whether or not there needs to be an increase in the stimulant dosage." Sure enough, there was a slightly cooler note in Tseng's voice at that. Rufus had a feeling that the head of the Turks would not be offering a plate to Kilmister unless directly ordered to do so—an order which Rufus frankly had no intention of giving.

Still, it shouldn't have been relevant that Rufus had an appointment tomorrow morning. "New Year's Eve is two days from now, not tomorrow." There was a fond tint to the look that Tseng gave him, though, and that made the president pause. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "We're celebrating tomorrow?"

"Depending on your condition and if you prefer," Tseng said simply, nudging Dark Nation away from him with his foot and back towards her master. The Guard Hound laid her head on Rufus's lap, and the president welcomed the distraction, focusing on scratching her around the ears instead. He had thought Tseng had forgotten—he himself nearly had—he couldn't have been more than eight when he'd slipped up amidst his complaints about his father's treatment of the holidays and admitted to Tseng that none of them really were anything special anyways because of how many inane parties the president hosted that he had to attend. In response, Tseng had started quietly celebrating the holidays with him the day prior to everyone else, so the boy could actually enjoy them. He'd even—very carefully—begun sharing Wutain traditions with Rufus as well: never any Wutai-specific holidays, but etiquette around certain meals and the like. That had gone on for a couple of years, before Rufus had determined that it was silly and childish and pointless. Professional that he was, Tseng hadn't spoken of it since.

Apparently, not even to the other Turks. “I thought you said some of this stuff’d take forever to make and that’s why we were starting tomorrow?” Reno said, looking over his shoulder at Tseng.

"I did say that some of it requires a lot of preparation time, but we're starting those ones today,” Tseng said. With no particular reason to argue, Reno shrugged and continued unloading the groceries.

Figuring that was one task which didn’t need to be supervised, Rufus patted Dark Nation’s head and then reached for his laptop—only to find it gone from his desk. Looking up, he made eye contact with Rude for half a second before his gaze slid to his laptop tucked under the bald Turk’s arm. He was too well-bred for pouting, but an irritated huff did slip out. “You could at least give me long enough to reply to Reeve’s email.”

“Didn’t take your phone,” Rude said simply, and Rufus gave him a poisonous look. They both knew that Reno had swiped his phone the moment the redhead had decided that his boss’s fever was too high. Never mind that that had been hours ago. Trying to pickpocket Reno was inviting humiliation even when one was fully healthy, and while Rufus’s fever had broken sometime in the early afternoon, he did still have a currently-incurable disease.

He halfheartedly considered if threatening to fire either one of them would make them return his laptop or phone, but decided against it. They’d likely just ignore it anyways. He wasn’t entirely certain when that had become something they felt comfortable doing (nor was he particularly thrilled with that fact), but they were the only ones on the planet willing to stand at his side in spite of everything. Because of that, he was less inclined to follow through on threats of firing any of them. And making empty threats was a poor business tactic.

“We did pick up a newspaper if you want that, sir.” Digging into one of the grocery bags, Elena pulled out a thickly-bound set of papers, and Rufus accepted it without a sigh. He would have preferred his laptop, but at least it was better than nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll need an excuse for another break tomorrow, so part 2 will be up to celebrate the day before New Year's Eve. In the meantime, stay warm and cozy, friends.


End file.
